"Lady Music" is a copy of the famous 14th c depiction of Boethius' three music types: Musica Mundana, Humana, and Instrumentalis.
While the images are (freehanded) copies of the original, I made two major changes: I swapped out some of the matte paint for
The original is held in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, as Plutei 29/1, dated to 1301-1400 (according to the library's catalogue). At present, this piece is spoken for. But if you would like a copy of it, I have the plans. Please note, however, that every copy will be different as I freehand almost the whole process. |
Brief Explanation of what the Panels Depict
The three types of music mentioned above were codified most famously by Anicius Manlius Serverinus Boethius in his De Musica (ca. 6th century AD), where
The three types of music mentioned above were codified most famously by Anicius Manlius Serverinus Boethius in his De Musica (ca. 6th century AD), where
1. Musica Mundana = true music, that is, the "Music of the Spheres" and all that it represents philosophically (as previously taught by Plato and others).
2. Musica Humana = human music, which according to Boethius was the unification of the rational and the irrational in the human body.
3. Musica Instrumentalis = music as we normally think of music today.
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For more information about the original, I invite you to read this lovely article by Marc Lewon:
Close-Up Shots of the Panels, Taken to Maximize the Gold-Leaf Shine
As you can quickly see in the pictures below, this set of panels changes appearance depending on how the light hits it, and where you—the observer—are standing! Its changeability constantly astonishes me when entering my art room, as I walk around the piece, as the sun rises and sets throughout the day, and as I shine various lights on it to capture the piece with my camera.
And this, of course, is due somewhat to how the metallic paint contrasts with the matte watercolour and gouache paints and inks, but mostly because of the 24K gold leafing.
And this, of course, is due somewhat to how the metallic paint contrasts with the matte watercolour and gouache paints and inks, but mostly because of the 24K gold leafing.
Art Materials Used
As with the other pieces listed on this site, I have used the following artist media:
- Watercolour paper (Waterford)
- Watercolour and gouache matte paints
- Gouache metallic paint
- Sumi ink
- 24K gold leaf - which includes the underlying rabbit skin glue gesso and clay bole
Art Process
The process of making this piece involved a number of steps. Most of these are similar to the other pieces listed on this site, such as:
1. Draft Copy on Draft Paper
- Measuring and increasing the size of the original using a ruler and calculator for the general proportions.
- Refining the drawing to make it both accurate and transferable to the final watercolour paper. In the video below I talk through some of the process in more detail.
As you can probably make out, the paper I am working on in the above video is larger than what the final version worked to be. I actually had thought of adding text to this piece. But no matter how I tried, I could not get it to look right. So I ”just” worked in the image instead. Some of my rejected designs are below. Maybe I’ll figure it out eventually.
2. Transferring line drawing to watercolour paper
3. Adding the paint, first in block colours, and then gradually shading, adding more details, and then finally outlining all the shapes (this is a common technique for medieval art).
3. Adding the paint, first in block colours, and then gradually shading, adding more details, and then finally outlining all the shapes (this is a common technique for medieval art).
4. Discovering a Dragon
Well into the painting of this piece, I was working on the lowest right panel depicting the musician and musical instruments. The citole with the rounded neck (which is, I assume an embellishment of the fingerboard/pegbox) had a curious and unknown object at the end of it. I recreated that portion as well as I could, but never really knew what I was drawing: there seems to be either some damage to the original, or perhaps an accident happened when it was originally painted (it is hard to tell from a digitization). On one occasion, I happened to glance at this portion out of the corner of my eye, and suddenly I realized it was a dragon head! I may or may not have squeaked in happiness! At this point I repainted the image to reconstruct the dragon head, to make it more recognizable.
Well into the painting of this piece, I was working on the lowest right panel depicting the musician and musical instruments. The citole with the rounded neck (which is, I assume an embellishment of the fingerboard/pegbox) had a curious and unknown object at the end of it. I recreated that portion as well as I could, but never really knew what I was drawing: there seems to be either some damage to the original, or perhaps an accident happened when it was originally painted (it is hard to tell from a digitization). On one occasion, I happened to glance at this portion out of the corner of my eye, and suddenly I realized it was a dragon head! I may or may not have squeaked in happiness! At this point I repainted the image to reconstruct the dragon head, to make it more recognizable.
5. Gold leafing.
For this piece I decided to prepare the surface with gesso and clay bole to allow for a greater shine. Gold leafing over a simple size (as in the "Seven Angels" and "Rutland Psalter" pieces) of course gives a wonderful shine, but it is more muted, or subtle in some ways. And I adore this. But preparing the surface in a more historical way (with a gesso made of whiting and rabbit skin glue, and clay bole) allows one to eventually burnish the gold with an agate stone. Burnishing allows for a MUCH greater shine.
Once the gesso is applied, I have to go in and even it out as much as possible with a scraping tool and sand paper. Here is a real-time video of me working on a very finicky portion of the piece - one of the thin arches over Lady Music. Note the dust which I have to carefully remove.
For this piece I decided to prepare the surface with gesso and clay bole to allow for a greater shine. Gold leafing over a simple size (as in the "Seven Angels" and "Rutland Psalter" pieces) of course gives a wonderful shine, but it is more muted, or subtle in some ways. And I adore this. But preparing the surface in a more historical way (with a gesso made of whiting and rabbit skin glue, and clay bole) allows one to eventually burnish the gold with an agate stone. Burnishing allows for a MUCH greater shine.
Once the gesso is applied, I have to go in and even it out as much as possible with a scraping tool and sand paper. Here is a real-time video of me working on a very finicky portion of the piece - one of the thin arches over Lady Music. Note the dust which I have to carefully remove.
The following is a real time video of me applying the clay bole on top of the 4-5 layers of gesso. Note that these layers allow one to create a 3D effect, as the gold leaf is raised higher than the rest of the painting.
Finally, the gold leafing. As I explain in the video below, this process requires more than one layer of gold leafing. For this piece, I believe I added 4 layers. Adding gold leaf over a simple size usually only requires one layer of gold.